Stephanie Pike
St. Paul’s is Stephanie Pike’s home church, where she served on staff for several years as administrative assistant and drama director. Since 2006, she has been working in partnership with the Protestant Reformed Evangelical Church of France. Stephanie is currently serving in a church plant in Marseille, a large port city in the south of France with a heavily multi-ethnic population. Her role is to help the French pastor grow the church plant toward maturity and eventual independence. Her creativity and gifts in teaching, music, drama, English, and graphic design help with a wide variety of outreaches such as children's and youth ministry, music events, and English clubs and classes. Please pray for Stephanie, that she would rely on God’s presence during difficult or challenging times. And pray for France, that God’s Word would go forth with power and be honored.
Alex and Suzanne Sarran
For six years, the church-plant in Lyon met in a very little store-front location at the foot of an apartment building right in the center of the city. For a while, there was an average of about 15 people who gathered there for worship every Sunday morning. But near the end of the six-year period, there were some Sundays where there were more than 50 people in attendance, with children having to sit on the floor or on their parents' laps. So the decision was made to move out of the small building, even though the congregation didn't know how they would be able to afford anything bigger. They were able to find a room that belongs to a local Catholic parish, and they are now meeting there on Sunday afternoons while they keep on looking for a permanent place. This is currently the biggest challenge that the Sarrans are facing as they continue their church-planting ministry in Lyon, the second most expensive city in France to live in.
Please pray for God's miraculous provision. Please also pray for the other projects that are under way, especially the elders' training classes and the outreach events. The Sarrans really need your prayers and your financial support as they seek to make Christ known in a place where there is an incredible amount of prejudice against the Bible and Christianity.
The Sarrans have four children: Matthieu (8/13/02), Timothée (5/12/04), Etienne (7/28/07) and Vallouise (4/5/10).
